


In Which I Attempt to Complete Suptober20

by undersail2013



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 3 Sentence Fiction, Case Fic, Destiel - Freeform, Double Drabble, Drabbles, Established Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Halloween, M/M, Memoir, Minor Kelly Kline/Lucifer (Supernatural), Minor Original Character(s), Minor Ruby/Sam Winchester, POV Second Person, Poetry, Schitt’s Creek AU, Sonnet, Suptober20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:29:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 6,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26767294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undersail2013/pseuds/undersail2013
Summary: A fan art challenge posted by tumblr userWinchester-Reload, and clumsily interpreted by your humble author...
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. Day 1: On the Road Again

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine that this collection will be largely G/PG-rated drabbles- will provide chapter-specific tags in text and update the overall tags as needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, Dad!Dean, Dad!Castiel, Claire, Ben, Jack

“Everybody ready?” Dean asked. “Claire, got your gameboy?”

She rolled her eyes. “ _Deeean_ , it’s a Nintendo DS.” 

Cas reproved his daughter with a glare. 

Dean ignored the preteen sass. “Whatever, your Pokémon.Ben, you got a book, buddy?”

“Yep.”

“Jack buckled in?”

Ben checked the carseat’s straps. “Looks good, Dad.”

“And everyone went potty, _riiight, Jack_? No pitstops once we’re on the road again. Speak now or forever hold your pee.”Four heads nodded agreement.Dean cranked the ignition; the engine roared to life.

“Wait!” Claire exclaimed. “I gotta go!” 

Casting an eyeroll towards Dean, Cas escorted her back inside.


	2. Day 2: Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drabble about fall gardening; inspired by true events :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: gardener!Cas

  
Dean threw a package onto Cas’ lap.“Mail call.”

“Oof,” he grumbled.Then he read the label. “Oh! My bulbs!”

Dean immediately looked back, concerned.“Uh-oh, did I break them?”

“What? No, flower bulbs.”He checked the packing slip against the contents. “Daffodils. Crocus. Crocus. Hmm, what are these?Ah, the muscari. And tulips- one, two, three, four.There should be ... oh, the peonies are coming later.”

Dean watched in quiet amusement.He loved how excited Cas got about flowers.Already, he saw, he was pulling on his gardening boots, eager to plant his bulbs in the rich, fertile earth.


	3. Day 3: Demonic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Giving you a little creative nonfiction today, just to shake things up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags: creative nonfiction, real life, kidfic (kinda)

  
I first started watching Supernatural in 2013, just before my first GISHWHES. My daughter was way too young to watch, but three-and-a-half year olds don’t necessarily process what’s happening on tv, so there were times that I let my little insomniac sit on the couch with me in the middle of the night as I binged every Cas episode, in preparation for Misha’s mischievous malevolence.I thought to bore her to sleep, this child that refusedto watch any live-action media.

Now, my sweet uncanny baby is something of a creative in her own right.She inherited a dark streak: she invents spooky stories, thrills to Coraline and  The Nightmare before Christmas ; her dolls routinely die or kill each other, and she has divined more than one Game of Thrones plot point.Sometimes she scares the bejeezus out of me, like that time she told me there was an angel in her room:)))) OKAY...

... It is very possible that she is a changeling, and I’m okay with that...

The point being, she was particularly struck by the concept of demons. Angels, too, if her night visitor is any indication, but demonic possession held a special charm.For a brief time, this darling child would seek to get her way by turning to me sweetly, batting her wee eyelashes, and wheedling, “You wouldn’t say no to these big black demon eyes, would you?”

Totally normal.(Someone fetch the salt.)


	4. Day 4: Branded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Sam are guests at the Rosebud Motel in Schitt’s Creek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Schitt’s Creek AU, pre-destiel, Sam x Ruby

Dean Winchester and his brother, Sam, had been stranded in this bumfuck town for way too long.The Rosebud Motel was _fine_ , he supposed, and the owner’s niece, Charlie, was just about the best friend he’d ever had.But he couldn’t help missing his old life: the open road, wind in his hair and Zepp on the radio, living off credit card scams and pool-sharking.Hunting was hard work, but he had had everything his heart desired.Any _ one _ his heart desired too, for that matter.

Hard to say what, exactly, had brought them to the little town of Schitt’s Creek.Deanhesitated to blame Sam.It wasn’t entirely his fault that that werewolf had shattered his leg and that he needed time to recuperate.It certainly wasn’t anyone’s fault that the infinite credit card well dried up after the whole Too Big to Fail bailout.If Dean was honest, it might have been his fault - he really should have known better than to stake his beloved Impala (and family home) on a hand of poker.

This is why Dean drank.

The people here were nice enough.Charlie let them live there rent-free, mostly out of sympathy for Sam’s injury, but also because Dean was handy with a hammer.The cute chick at the Cafe Tropical let them keep a running tab.“You just pay me back whenever you get back on your feet, no pun intended,” Donna had said.“I’m sure you’d do the same for me.”He knew he would not have done the same.At the same time, he hated to think how much they actually owed at this point.The guy at the garage, Rufus, occasionally gave Dean some odd jobs to do.All in all, it was a nice place to visit, but he sure wouldn’t want to live there.

And yet.It had been a year, and he was no closer to buying one of Rufus’ old clunkers so they could get back to their real life.Sam had recovered, sure, but his leg would never be the same.He was now the grumpy old guy who could warn when a storm was coming.The real problem: Ruby, the veterinarian.She had given Sam a job as her receptionist, despite him having zero qualifications but a love of dogs.

With Sam working, they could save a little bit and get the hell out of Dodge, but with Sam dating Ruby, he might never leave.

All of this was swirling through Dean’s head as he stood in the middle of Main Street, staring at the “Store Closing - Everything Must Go” sign in the window of the General Store.He could feel an idea taking root.What if.What if he, Dean Winchester, leased the old General Store?It would be an honest living.And it wouldn’t have to just be the glorified convenience store it was now, he thought, remembering the Gas and Sip that was going in on the other end of town.It could be a Very Specific Store, selling locally produced goods, but branded with the shop’s name.

He knew jack squat about entrepreneurship, though.He crossed back to the Cafe to ask Donna about her business.

“Have you talked to Pamela?” 

“Pamela, the realtor slash insurance salesman slash palm reader, Pamela?”

“That’s the one.But she’s got a new tenant, some hotshot MBA, name a’ Castiel.”

“No hotshot _anything_ should be here.What’s wrong with him?”

__

__

She waved her arms in an exaggerated shrug.“He showed up a few weeks ago from who-knows-where, and where else would he go but Pamela’s house? But between you and me, I don’t believe she offered him lodgings just out of the goodness of her heart, if ya catch my drift.” Donna winked.

“So he’s hot,” Dean guessed.

“Oh yeah, you betcha!”

Dean hummed.He thanked Donna, plunked down the last five dollars in his wallet (a drop in the bucket, but she always appreciated the gesture), and headed uptown to the home slash office of Pamela Barnes.


	5. Day 5: Daydream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonnet on an autumn meadow

The bluest eyes, the bluest blue to blue:

Is that not how the poet starts the tale?

Those eyes that dart and pierce you through and through,

And range from clear and bright to stormy gale.

Thy lover’s eyes do not seek yours just now;

They light upon a bee, on flower tall.

The insects drink their fill, all blooms allow;

The man inhales the scent of fragrant fall.

Those bluest eyes trace flight of wasp and bee,

From nodding sunflow’r head to fresher bud

Of dandelion, second spring it be.

The meadow lives and gives of its heart’s blood.

And like thy dearest daydream come to pass,

You lie here, watching bees and watching Cas.


	6. Day 6: Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie Night in the Bunker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Sam x Eileen, bunker fic, The Princess Bride, the Deancave; double drabble (200 words)

“Wait, you’ve never seen _The Princess Bride_?” Eileen asked, her hands a-flutter.

“What?” Dean whipped his head towards Sam. He sounded alarmed. “How are you even my brother?”

Cas piped up, “I’m familiar with the story but I have not personally watched it.”

Sam rounded on Cas. “ _Et tu, Brute_?”

He squinted in response but said nothing.

Dean stood hastily, piling research materials and gathering his laptop to his chest. “That’s it,” he said, pointing at Sam and Cas, “we’re having a movie night.”The way he said it, it sounded like a threat. _How dare they_...

He herded them all into the den (Sam refused to call it the Deancave). “There’s this girl, the most beautiful woman in the world, and she gets kidnapped, but she’s rescued by the Man in Black. He’s got a Zorro mask, and he-“

Eileen realized what he was doing. “No spoilers,” she signed, and he was silenced. _Neat trick_.

Dean pulled two chairs alongside the recliners and sat in the one by Cas. Sam took Dean’s recliner; Eileen plopped onto Sam’s lap.

Sam, Cas, and Eileen watched enthralled.

Dean fell asleep halfway through.


	7. Day 7: Domestic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schmaltzy poetic trash :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: free verse

When I think of

Dean and Cas,

I think of

Heaven,

Hell,

Purgatory.

I think of 

Hands,

Eyes,

Lips.

I think of 

The marriage of true minds.

Not in a domestic sense,

Not entirely:

Friends,

Soulmates,

Partners in every way.

I love them.

I love the love they give

Their friends,

Their family,

Each other.

(With love comes trust.

Can the trust

Of their loved ones

Ever hope to convince 

Dean

And

Cas

To love 

Themselves?)


	8. Day 8: Heartless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean on a hunt, but Sammy ends up doing all the heavy lifting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Sam POV, OFC, original MOTW, casefic

Sam looked puzzled. “Whatever this is, it’s not a werewolf,” he mused.

“I mean, it’s a textbook werewolf attack, right?” Dean seemed out-of-sorts; physically, he was here, but ever since they arrived in town, he’d had his head buried in his phone.

“But check out the chest wound.”

Dean peered at the corpse on the table.“There. Isn’t one.”

“Right? The coroner’s report clearly states that the guy had been mauled, so when she said he was heartless, I just assumed... This is something else.”

“Yep, something else,” Dean muttered.

Sam was officially past wondering about his brother’s level of disengagement and was now pushing into perturbed territory. “Listen, Dean, I don’t know what is so fascinating about your phone, but can you at least try to pay attention? This thing, whatever it is, is still out there!”

Dean jerked his head up.“Huh? Whatever.” He drifted out the door, back to the coroner’s office, Sam presumed.

Until he heard a shout. A struggle. A gruff snarling growl and higher pitched pleading.

“Dr Colby?” Sam raced to the outer offices, looking for the source of the sound. “Dean? Where are you?”He pulled up short at the door to the lobby.A woman lay panting on the floor, deep claw marks on her arms, torso, face. Just like the body now lying in the morgue.

“You’re the receptionist, right?” The woman nodded, feebly.“Who did this to you?Did you see your attackers?”

“Attacker. One attacker.” She struggled to sit upright. Sam extended a hand; she took it.Then she looked him dead in the eyes. “It was the other agent. Agent DeYoung. He went that way,” she rasped, pointing out towards the street.

He hated to leave her alone like this but what choice did he have? Either Dean was possessed or something was wearing his face. He had to catch up to him.

“I’ll send help. Promise.”

He got to the car without seeing any trace of Dean.He tried shouting for him; no answer. His phone went to voicemail. Sam checked for his location.

He stopped cold.

Dean was still in the building!

He ran back inside, suddenly aware that the once-bustling lobby was deserted. No one waiting to speak to a clerk, and no clerks either.He felt a chill, and he was fairly certain it wasn’t a cold spot.Something was very wrong here.

“Dean!”He passed the place where he’d left the coroner’s receptionist, but she was gone, not so much as a bloodstain to indicate that she’d ever been there. “Dean!”He shoved open every door in the hallway and found nothing but uninhabited offices.Like everyone had simply gone home for the day. At two in the afternoon on a very ordinary Thursday.“Dean!”

He returned to the morgue. The body was gone!Again, no trace of blood.

Sam had to stop, had to collect himself. He propped himself against an unoccupied desk and squeezed his eyes shut.What did he know? Dean was being weird, an entire office building of regular government employees had seemingly fucked off to who-knows-where, and two deeply wounded persons, one of whom was actually dead, had vanished.

The hearts.

He reached deep into his memory. Hadn’t there been some saint that had been fatally mauled by wolves, only to rise from the dead and proclaim that he’d been resurrected by God himself?Yes. He died many years later of old age, and his body was miraculously preserved as a relic. Just a few years ago, the Church had ordered a restoration of his remains, and the preservation experts performed a CT scan. Turns out, the sainted mummy had no heart. No chest wounds (his body was otherwise intact), nor could the scientists point to any intentional mummification processes to explain the absence.

Shortly thereafter, the remains were lost. Supposedly, the hospital where they ran the tests sent him off for cremation, but there was no paper trail to corroborate the story. Folks chalked it up to general ineptitude and didn’t think to follow up.

What if the mummy wasn’t dead, though? What if it had escaped and was now stalking St Louis, turning people, making them disappear.

No. Making them not care.

The monster inflicted apathy on bystanders. Then it- what? Shredded the victims? Stole their hearts out of their ribcages, without ever breaking the skin?

A thought occurred to him, and he suddenly understood what was happening.

He had to find Dean.

In the employee parking lot behind the building, Sam hit the jackpot. At least twenty drivers sitting in their cars, all engrossed in their phones or staring quietly into space, all with looks of barely simmering frustration.Among them, lounging against a dumpster (gross) was Dean. He was still unharmed!But still glued to his screen.

Sam didn’t bother to attract his attention. Somewhere, one of these zombies was actually a centuries-old mummy. Kill the sire, break the spell? He could only hope. But how to pick him out? 

He spotted the receptionist in a late-model sedan, one that struck him as just a bit pricier than a municipal staffer might typically afford. She and three passengers had the same posture as everyone else in the parking lot: head down, eyes glazed, empty.

He knocked on her window, and she jumped, startled. None of the other people in the car moved a muscle.He recognized Dr Colby among them.He motioned for her to roll down the window.“Sandy, right?” He asked. “Glad to see you recovered so quickly.”She squinted up at him but said nothing. “Listen, Sandy, I wonder if you have a key to the morgue. I think I left my wallet in there.”

“How careless,” came a deep voice, spoken by her and not at all.

He tried not to grimace. He forced a smile instead. “Yeah, I’d lose my own head if it wasn’t attached.So can you let me in?”

“One moment please,” the voice rumbled. A receptionist’s words in the voice of an ancient malevolent evil.

Sam smiled again.

The receptionist unfolded herself from the car and stepped briskly to the employee entrance. She tapped a key card from the lanyard around her neck.

As the door chirped its welcome, Sam plunged a red-tinged knife into the hollow at the base of her skull.“Heartless One, I name you false saint. With the blood of an unbled victim, you die.”

The monster gave one last scream, rising suddenly to the scream of the human receptionist, Sandy, before both voices were caught on the wind and carried away.The knife slipped from the flesh as the figure crumpled.Sam’s chest heaved once.Was that enough?

“Sam?”

He turned. “Dean?”

“What’s going on? I thought we were going on a hunt. Why are we at - what, the DMV?”

Sam grabbed him up in a bear hug.The back of Dean’s neck was still bleeding where Sam had christened the blade, but he hadn’t yet noticed the injury.

“We were, we did. It was a blood wight. It infected your heart. That’s why the hearts were missing.It infects the heart with apathy, and when the flesh of the heart has been devoured, the victim becomes a blood wight in turn.They normally only create one or two offspring in a century, but this one...” He gestured at the stunned professional types, staggering away from their vehicles and blinking in the sunshine.“Hello, Dr Colby,” he said, greeting a middle-aged woman in a white coat; the woman just glared as she hurried past him.

Dean screwed up his face.“Man, either I started drinking way too early, or you did.What?”

Sam laughed, his heart feeling remarkably light.Buoyant.“I’ll catch you up on the way home.I’m driving.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I know where the Impala is, and you don’t.”

Dean scowled. He dug into his pocket for the keys and plunked them onto Sam’s open palm.“Okay, but you owe me.”

“We’ll stop for burgers before we get on the highway.”

“Don’t judge me, but I can’t even think of meat right now.I could murder a Caesar salad, though.”

Sam grinned.This kind of Dean weirdness felt very normal.


	9. Day 9: Electric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They make it official

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, proposal, wedding, Kingdom beer; characters: Dean, Cas, Sam, Jack, Claire

They could create fake IDs all day long, but when it came to legitimizing Cas as a real human, with history and a paper trail, it struck Dean that the two of them should get hitched. Like getting married for a green card, but in this case, the 90-Day Fiancé was seeking citizenship of Earth.

America, too, Cas noted.

Yes, Dean replied. Shut up and say yes already, he’d added.

Of course Cas said yes, even though they had barely discussed their relationship prior to this moment.Twelve years of sweet, sweet eyefucking, then BAM!Marriage.

Sam teased them mercilessly about every aspect of wedding planning. Which is to say that Sam made 90% of the wedding planning decisions: 

  * Sam asked if they were wearing complementary plaid down the aisle, and Dean agreed out of sheer assholery. 
  * Sam asked which dad was Jack giving away, prompting a long conversation about human wedding traditions, and ultimately resulting in Claire as Dean’s Best Ma’am and Jack as Cas’ Man of Honor. 
  * Sam asked if they would do the Electric Slide at their reception; great fucking idea, Dean exclaimed: now they HAD to have a reception! 
  * Sam asked who was tossing the bouquet, and Cas actually sparred with Dean for the right to carry flowers, until Jack wondered aloud why they couldn’t both carry flowers... and thus that question was settled with minimal bloodshed.



For all his teasing, though, Sam confessed in his toast, he was humbled and honored that his brothers had taken his suggestions.He couldn’t have planned a better wedding, he continued, his voice cracking with sincere emotion, for two better people. To Dean and Cas, he declared, raising a bottle of Kingdom to the happy couple.

To Dean and Cas, shouted the assembled friends and family and friends that had become family, raising high their own beverages. 


	10. Day 10: Sweet Rides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the sort of deep, intelligent discussions that happen around the Winchester dinner table, fight me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: chat meme, dad jokes, Dean is not that funny, your author is not that funny, we’re having a great time though

Dean: Dad jokes are the best

Sam: Dad jokes are the worst

Dean: observe

Dean: If they made a rollercoaster out of the game Candyland ...

Sam, softly: Don’t

Dean: ... would that be a sweet ride?

Sam, unamoosed: No

Jack: ...

Dean, grinning like a fool: ...

Jack: .......

Cas, nudging Jack: Because it’s a  ride about  sweets; _ergo_ , a sweet ride

Jack: ...

Jack: (laughs his ass off)

Dean: I rest my case


	11. Day 11: Rock and Roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean cooks Thanksgiving dinner, despite his family’s best efforts... Prequel to Day 1: On the Road Again, and in honor of this Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, double Drabble, Dad!Dean, Dad!Castiel, Claire, Ben, Jack, Sam x Eileen, American Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been one of Dean’s favorite holidays. And why not? Food  and family! He doesn’t remember his earliest thanksgivings, but sometimes he dreams about his mom dishing him up a plate of turkey and pumpkin pie, and he figures that’s close enough to a real memory.

Thanksgiving with three kids is slightly less idyllic. He’s been up since dawn with the turkey, and Jack too. Ben lent a hand after breakfast, getting his brother a snack and watching the Macy’s parade with him, which gave Dean time to get the apple pie in the oven.Claire has spent the morning asking to help, and then acting huffy when asked to watch Jack.She has no interest in amusing a toddler; she just wants to use a knife!She tags along with her dad when Dean sends Cas to the store for one more can of corn.

Finally, Dean’s done cooking. He loads the turkey, stuffing, cornbread, green bean casserole, and three pies into the car while Cas wrangles the children. From the doorway, he hollers to his family, “C’mon guys, let’s rock and roll!We gotta get to Uncle Sammy and Aunt Eileen’s before the turkey gets cold!”


	12. Day 12: Rewind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long ago, in the dark days before Netflix... The continuing adventures of Dean and Cas’ blended family...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, drabble, Dad!Dean, Claire, Ben

“Y’know, when I was your age,” Dean says, “we didn’t have Netflix.”

Ben has heard all of his Dad’s days-of-yore tales and is unimpressed. Claire, though, drops her jaw comically.

“What? How did you watch television?”

“We had big metal antennas on every roof to catch the signal from the air.”

She looks skeptical.

“There were, like, five channels to choose from.If you missed your show, you missed it forever. Commercials were bathroom breaks: no rewind, no fast-forward.”Dean leans in close, like he’s telling a scary campfire story. “And some TVs, they had _no remote control_.”

Claire shrieks.


	13. Day 13: Ladies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire goes to her first Girl Scouts troop meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, Dad!Dean, Dad!Castiel, Claire, Kaia, Jody; drabble, passes the Bechdel Test

Claire stepped to the door nervously. She took a breath, pushed it open.

She knew almost everyone.

Patience was there, and Alex, of course.Alex, who had invited her to join the Girl Scouts in the first place.A few other girls from her school.

One girl she didn’t recognize.She was sitting by herself, watching.Claire marched up to her.

“Hi, I’m Claire. What’s your name?”  


“Kaia.”

“Wanna be friends?”

She smiled.“Sure.”

Suddenly an adult voice broke through the chaos.“Okay ladies, simmer down,” called Alex’s mom, Ms Jody. “Let’s welcome our new troop members, Kaia and Claire.”


	14. Day 14: Fun and Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fall festival at Sam and Eileen’s church

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, Saileen; three-sentence fic

Every October, Eileen’s church held a fall festival, open to all, no religious affiliation required; just a cheerful spirit and maybe an open purse (it was a fundraiser, after all).

The first year they were together, she invited Sam, and he had dragged Dean and Cas every year since, but this year was going to be special, as the Leahy-Winchesters had volunteered all four of them to work booths: Sam would sell tickets at the entrance, and Eileen would lead groups through The Haunted House Maze set up in the fellowship hall, while Dean and Cas were offered up to the Fun and Games committee chair.

Upon arrival at the fair, Cas was sent to the Milk Jug Ring Toss, but he spent most of his time watching Dean at the Duck Pond, a simple game in which the child pulled a rubber duckie from a kiddie pool- a game that was already heavily rigged to give one of three prizes to every child who played, and yet, to Cas’ amusement, Deanmade sure that they all walked away with the prize they most desired.


	15. Day 15: Third Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Dean and Cas really do in bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: ASMR, drabble

“...wave the selenite wand here, over your third eye. Selenite is good for clearing...”

A knock sounded; Dean slammed the laptop shut.Cas appeared in the doorway.“What’re you watching?”

“Nothing.”

Cas waited.

“Uh, just, a relaxation video?”

“ASMR?”

“You know it?”

He nodded. He made his way to the unoccupied side of Dean’s bed and made himself comfortable.“I find it soothing.”Taking the computer from Dean’s lap, he opened it and clicked play.

“...clearing away blockages...”

Dean wondered if Cas would volunteer his own healing powers. Instead, the angel settled in, content to bask in the ASMRtist’s ministrations.


	16. Day 16:Switch It Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our fake FBI badges are not a joke, DEAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: fbi, old married couple destiel, pray4sam; drabble

The sheriff excused herself.

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked as they left the crime scene.

“What?”

“‘Agent Swift?!’”

Dean looked uneasy. “Oh. Y’know just, thought I’d switch it up a bit.”

“Agent Swift is Cas’ alias. Did you grab his badge by mistake?”

“No.” He couldn’t look his brother in the eye. “It’s not a big deal. Drop it already!”

“Dean,” Sam said, pulling the car door closed. “This charade is paper-thin; we can’t mix up the IDs.”

“Fine. It was Cas’ idea. He’s a Winchester in real life. ’Least I can do is take his name professionally.”


	17. Day 17: Autumn Invading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s already tomorrow... I’m tired and barely inspired, so here’s a short poem- bone app the teeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: poetry, free verse tercets, only vaguely sup-ey

How can anyone think of autumn invading:

An intruder, an enemy,

Monster of the week?

Autumn is warm, then cold, 

Flannels rolled up, 

then sweaters and vests;

Autumn is dead leaves 

and a lawn of clover 

recovering from summer drought.

Autumn no more invades

Than the hunter 

Bursting in for the save.


	18. Day 18: Dark and Stormy Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean get help from Cas on a case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, casefic, ghosts, cursed object

Dean was driving, so Sam held the phone. “You’re on speakerphone, Cas. Say hi, Sammy.”

“Hey, Cas. What did you find?”

“I can’t be sure, but it seems that your spirit might be the ghost of Edward Bulwer-Lytton.”

Sam pulled a face and shook his head, but Dean vaguely recognized the name.“Isn’t that the guy who wrote, ‘It was a dark and stormy night?’” He watched Sam’s face change from confusion to disbelief.“Hey, I read.”To Cas, “A famous ghost, huh? Neat. So what’s Lord Purple Prose doing in Nebraska?”

“His spirit must be tied to a cursed object. Given his notoriety, it might be a pen or a writing desk, something related to the writer’s craft.Perhaps even a signet.”

“The ring!” exclaimed both brothers at once.

“There was this ring on display, just arrived from Queensland, Australia,” Sam hastened to explain, while Dean spun the car around, heading back to the museum. “The docent told us it had an ‘interesting’ history.”

“Hmm. Yes, very interesting,” Cas replied, reading snippets of a text:“The Queensland Signet ... forged in the mid-nineteenth-century ... in use for barely a decade ... lost, presumed stolen ... discovered by opal miners? Nowhere near its last known whereabouts.It has been moved a dozen times in the past fifty years, and everywhere it goes, strange deaths follow.”

“So, destroy or neutralize?”

The sound of pages turning and Cas hemming softly to himself.

“Cas?”

“I’m looking, Dean.”Another silence, then: “We don’t have the tools we need to destroy it without obliterating the soul within.Lock it up for now, and I’ll make a note to track down the appropriate devices.I assume you have a curse box available.”

Dean scoffed. “Obviously.”

“Good. Remember not to touch it with your bare hands...”

“Duh.”

“...and burn anything that has had contact with it.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Burn anything..?That seems excessive.”

Cas sighed, and Dean could feel the exasperated eyeroll that went with that sound.“I’ll be happy to show you all of the literature on this particular cursed object when you get back to the bunker.In the meantime, you’ll just have to trust me.”

“You got it,” Dean grinned.

“Dean, Sam. Be careful.”

“We will- thanks, Cas,” Sam replied.

“Thanks, Cas. If all goes well, we’ll be home tonight.Don’t start watching the new episode without me.”

“I won’t, Dean. Keep me apprised.”

Dean made a clicking sound with his mouth and a finger-gun gesture that Cas couldn’t see, and Sam hung up.


	19. Day 19: Pour One Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An English ode in the Keatsian style, lamenting the fallen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Canon MCD; ode, iambic tetrameter  
> Characters: Mary Winchester, Charlie Bradbury, Ash, Jo Harvelle, Ellen Harvelle, Meg, Death, Rufus Turner, Bobby Singer, Gordon Walker, Ruby, Anna Milton, Kevin Tran, John Winchester

The road so far is long, and we

Have work to do before we sleep.

We cannot rest, we wicked be;

We burn our dead but dare not weep.

Our foes are many, legion, dread.

From hell and limbo and above,

They show us faces false and true.

They kill, we kill. We mourn the dead

And pour one out for those we love,

Another lost. We’ve got work to do.

How can we grieve them all, the lost,

When every hunt brings yet more pain

Upon our souls? Each time we’ve tossed

The dice and gambled, lost, the stain

Of foul perdition permeates

And spreads, until we yearn for peace-

That fantasy, it tortures us,

That dream no hunter dreams awaits

When heart and blood and breath should cease,

No heav’nly stairway glorious.

A partial telling of the dead:

The mother Mary, left us twice.

Queen Charlie, bold heart, clever head;

Like Ash, Doc Badass, no device

Could rival her intelligence.

Young Jo, with Ellen, faced the hounds;

In turn fell Meg, sly, mocking, wry,

Despite her arc of penitence;

Then Death himself escaped the bounds

Of life, destroyed by his own scythe.

Rufus, Bobby, hunters aging,

Living long, and not enough yet.

Gordon, too, though his rampaging 

Dulls the bitterness of regret.

And Ruby, though a villain slain,

Must leave a mark on ex’s soul.

The angel Anna- lover too,

Who knew humanity and pain.

The list of angels?Call the roll-

Their numbers dwindled, now so few.

This ode of woe comes to an end

With barely surface scratched. To wit:

Of Kevin, not a word, poor friend; 

Of John the father, not a whit.

The loss of loved ones leaves a hole

That never drink nor sweet revenge

Can heal; it cannot be outrun.

And so we carry on, each soul,

Our dear departed to avenge.

May there be peace when we are done.


	20. Day 20: Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuing Thanksgiving adventures of Dean and Cas and their little brood at Uncle Sammy and Aunt Eileen’s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, drabble, Dad!Dean, Dad!Castiel, Jack

Jack conked out about an hour ago, slumped against Dean’s chest, lulled to sleep by the sound of the Cowboys getting their asses handed to them. Cas had slipped Dean the last slice of apple pie just as the little guy was nodding off, then disappeared into the kitchen to help Sam with the dishes. Not that he had room but hey, free pie.

“Dean?” Cas called out.

“Yeah, babe?”

“We should head home soon.”

He held out the empty plate. “Sure thing- I’ll round up the kiddos, if you’ll pack up the food. And some of Eileen’s squash casserole!”


	21. Day 21: Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire has a nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, kidfic, Dad!Dean, Dad!Castiel, Claire; double drabble; the continuing adventures of Dean and Cas’ blended family from “Day 1: On the Road Again”

“DADDY!”

The scream came from Claire’s room, waking both dads. They scrambled to her door.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” asked Cas, perching beside her on the bed.She lunged into his arms.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Dean asked from the doorway.

She said nothing, just nodded against Castiel‘s chest.

“Don’t be afraid, sweetie. They say there’s nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Dean interjected, “That’s not how it goes,” and in the same instant, Claire sat back and frowned at her father.

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

Cas grinned, noting that her nightmare had evaporated, replaced with indignant confusion.“Never mind. Do you want me to stay with you a little longer?”

Yawning, she answered by settling back amongst her pillows and stuffed animals.“Tuck me in!”she demanded.

He placed Grumpy Cat in the crook of her arm, then the satin-lined blanket pulled up to her neck, and finally the top sheet, just to her waist. “Good?”

“Good.”

He kissed her forehead and bade her good night.

“Sleep well,” added Dean, still loitering.

“Good night,” she called, but it was half a yawn.They heard her snoring before they got back to bed.


	22. Day 22: I cursed the gloom that set upon us, But I know I love you so

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean cannot sing and does not care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Claire, Castiel, Dean, Bunker fic, Led Zeppelin lyrics, Dean thrives on annoying people but especially Claire; drabble

Claire’s mouth turned down. “Why can’t I go, too? It’s just a little vamp nest!”

“Into every life a little rain must fall,” said Cas primly.

Dean, who had been downstairs packing, jogged up the steps to the war room.He only caught the tail-end of Cas’ rejoinder, which, he later explained, was why he burst into song just then. “I cursed the gloom that set upon us...”

Claire groaned and threw back her head. “First I’m left behind and now I’m subjected to this? Ugh!”

Unperturbed, he grinned, pointed at her, crooned, “But I know I love you so.” 


	23. Day 23: Favorite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt is “favorite” so I wrote about *my* favorite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Castiel; poetry, haiku (or perhaps closer to a Senryū?), written in stanzas of 5/7/5

Castiel: angel,

Captain of the garrison,

Loyal to a fault.

In hell, he gripped tight

And raised Dean from perdition, 

By heaven’s command.

Angel of the Lord-

He’s lightning in a bottle.

He is not a hammer. 

Leader of angels,

An enemy combatant

Against heav’n itself.

Shield of God, but flawed, 

His chassis cracked; he’s broken,

And so he’s broken.

Holy warrior

To holy tax accountant 

To nuking nachos.

Angel of Thursday,

Never where he’s s’posed to be...

God’s favorite blind spot.

He ripped up the script,

Once, twice, again and again-

His ending to write.


	24. Day 24: Family Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean finds an old sketchbook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, retired hunters; drabble

One day, several years into their semi-retirement from the family business, Dean found an old sketchbook buried under some curious volume of forgotten lore.It wasn’t his or Sam’s- the only artistic gift they possessed was the ability to replicate sigils. No, these sketches showed real talent, and judging by the Enochian character under each completed piece - like a K or the number 13, depending on the brush strokes - this book had belonged to Cas.

He showed him his find.

Cas gave a soft smile, his finger tracing the lines of the face on the page, the face before him.


	25. Day 25: Villain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A difference of opinion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: endverse!Destiel; drabble

The screen door slammed shut behind Dean.

Cas stumbled to the doorway.This wasn’t over.“I am not the villain here!” he shouted. God, they could probably hear this argument all the way across camp.

“Like hell you’re not,” retorted Dean.He’d stopped, turned, but kept his voice low and icy.

He whispered, “For wanting you to stay safe?”He hated the way his breath caught on the last word.

They glared at each other for some minutes.Cas shivered, the damp planks of the porch chilly under his bare feet.

With a sigh, Dean relented.They went back inside.


	26. Day 26: Walk of Shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel goes to a frat party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: college au, destiel, Halloween frat party, Dean, Cas, Gabe; drabble

Castiel didn’t love parties.Socializing didn’t come easy, and less so with loud music and drunk people.But he loved Halloween, which is why he let his prankster brother drag him to a frat party.

He lost sight of Gabe almost immediately. 

He’d have felt awkward, alone, in his silly angel costume, if not for the cute flirt who asked him to dance. Green eyes, devil horns ... the taste of whiskey on his tongue.

His brother tried teasing him for stealing out of Dean’s room in the morning, but it sure didn’t feel like a walk of shame to Cas.


	27. Day 27: Banquet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Greek mythology, the change of seasons means the return of the underworld’s queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: Destiel, Hades/Persephone AU, Hades!Cas, Persephone!Dean; drabble

The god of the Underworld rushes around like an anxious bridegroom, giving orders to his servants in the palace of the dead. “My beloved comes to me this night from the land of the living!Look sharp!Prepare the banquet!Make ready the ballroom, the throne room, the boudoir!See that my love is comfortable.”

At long last, the veil between the worlds parts, and a statuesque beauty emerges, the blessed child of a golden-haired goddess. Green-eyed, freckled, in a chiton as red as the pomegranate that binds them both together.

“Hello, Dean,” he murmurs.

“Missed you,” replies his beloved.


	28. Day 28: Hellscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TFW1.0 casually chatting about Heaven and Hell, nbd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: destiel, tfw 1.0, heaven, hell, purgatory, ash, Pamela Barnes, zachariah; drabble

Only the Winchesters could reminisce about alternate planes of existence.

“Heaven was pretty interesting,” Sam argues.

“Okay, sure, when Zachariah wasn’t tryna kill us,” says Dean. “It  _was_ cool hanging out at the Roadhouse again. Seeing Ash.”

“And Pamela. THE Garden of Eden?!At least concede that Heaven’s more beautiful than the hellscape of Purgatory.”

“I don’t know; I’m oddly fond of Purgatory.” Cas had been quiet thus far, and now a soft smile played on his lips.

“Purgatory is  _nothing_ like Hell. You know that, Sammy. Hell is ... HELL. But Purgatory is... I dunno...”

Cas finishes the thought. “Pure.” 


	29. Day 29: Fragile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When family tests positive for covid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: COVID-19, destiel, Sam x Eileen, inspired by my family and in-laws all getting covid at once, everyone says they’re fine, but it’s still covid, stop being so calm about this!; drabble

Dean’s phone chimes. A text from Sam. What time is it there? Isn’t he at work now? He reads it, reads it again. What?

“Cas.” Dean looks up from his phone, and his voice breaks. “Sam and Eileen have covid.”

“Oh shit.How- how are they?”

Dean draws a ragged breath. “They’re ... okay? So far. Small cough, scratchy throats. Eileen has a low fever. Sam says they’re fine, but ...”

“But it’s still covid,” Cas supplies.

Dean nods.

“How are you?”

“Fragile.” Then a sob bursts out of him.

Cas scoops him into a firm, grounding embrace. “I’m here for you.”


	30. Day 30: Dress-up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picking a Halloween costume

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: 2nd-person POV, Team Free Will

October 30th. The day before Halloween. And you still don’t know what you’re gonna dress up as.

You go to your closet.

You have a grey henley and a small-check flannel in blue and red, shot through with a thin white stripe that mutes both colours, giving it a pastel effect. You can throw on a pair of boot-cut jeans and that chunky necklace you like that kinda looks like the Samulet. Roll up the sleeves and draw on the Mark of Cain if you’re feeling naughty.

You have another flannel shirt, thinner, this one a bold plaid, orange and yellow and brown. It brings out the gold flecks in your eyes. You can wear it with a straight-leg pant and your russet jacket. Wear your hair long and lustrous; maybe draw on some s5 sideburns for drama.

You finger the sleeve of the tan trenchcoat you picked up at the thrift shop last fall. A pair of trousers, a blazer, a white dress shirt. And a blue tie. You have everything you need right here. You could even dig out that little fairy-dust necklace that you got at the renaissance festival when you were 15. The bluish-white glitter sparkles like angel grace.

October 30th. The day before Halloween. And you still don’t know who you’re gonna dress up as.


	31. Day 31: Carry On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack’s family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: TFW2.0, destiel, Jack, Cas, Sam, Dean, brief mention lucifer x kelly; drabble

It takes a village to raise a child.

Jack has a mother and father, neither of which are in the picture.His mother bestowed him unto Castiel, who promptly died.Sam filled the void as best he could, but Dean, broken as he was by the loss of Cas, couldn’t carry on, couldn’t bear to look at Jack.Until Cas came back.With Cas alive and resuming his parental role, Dean came to love Jack, too.

Jack has four fathers: a sperm donor, an adoptive dad, an uncle, and a stepfather.It’s almost enough to keep the poor kid alive.


End file.
